We have umbrellas but I struggle with the "deep pocket" conundrum e.g. the richer the take, the more the incentive to sue baby sue. In the end we decided on the amount to cover about either half our non IRA accounts OR about half the house. Who knows what's right with insurance. We had to argue with the insurance company to raise the amount on our home owners, real estate in our area is rising faster than I could have imagined. THough it's nice that it's done, does not feel like it's increasing happiness
Fidelity had some sort of digital safe where you can store important documents and provide names of people who can access when you are gone. Assume if the docs are MS docs, you could also password them. I keep meaning to check it out but have not done as of now.
The house is still a 1959 3 bedroom split ~2000 sqft. Just all redone and with a second garage and expanded rooms above. Have you looked at real-estate in your old neighborhood? Might shock you.
Yep, they reaccessed the house to market value, ahead of the 10 year reaccessment. They then have a factor that brings the house inline with the town accessment from 2020. After all this math magic, our bill went up 8k. Now our new accessment can't increase more than 2%. Honestly, fixing up our house, including replacing a 45 yr old GE a/c unit, they don't make them like they used to, made financial sense even given the taxes. No ranches here, almost at any price, and I did not want to commit to lots of far driving. Can actually walk to basics here for as long as I can do that. Its all pretty nuts
We live in essex county, nj, w high taxes and great schools. Have no kids and are both seniors. Just redid our =2000 sqft 3 bedroom house and got accessed 8k/yr more bringing us to 20k/yr. Sometimes feels like the schools and towns behave like drunken sailors but also believe the children of this town are getting a great start in life and that's paying it forward. Most of the smaller houses, like ours, get knocked down when seniors move to build MacMansions with even more taxes (45k). Hopefully they plan well for the future but suspect some come just for the time their kids are in school and then they flee. It all feels unsustainable, but maybe thats because we are on a fixed income. We are lucky in that our state has many income based programs to help with state taxes. Think treasuries vs. Interest/dividends. Having my tax dollars go to private schools would set my hair in fire. Sorry so long, a subject I have some passion for
Excellent point but I believe the new tax law may now limits this. Think it may be based on income but is now about 6500 max. Hope I misunderstood the change. I converted 2/3 of my ira when I retired but before taking SS. Invested Roth more aggressively. Put ira into basic cds hoping to control rmds and yet it keeps growing. Know I am lucky to have this "problem" and there's a good chance I will need a lot of help as I get older but still happy I made the conversion when I did, and while nj taxes were deductible from federal taxes. The game keeps changing.
Love your article but what hit me most is how wise and lucky you are to realize and appreciate the loved ones you have now. I know people who are racked with regret over not having done....you will clearly not be one of those. Thank you for the thought provoking article as someone living with a 74 year old.
If not for you, be kind to your heirs and consolidate. My father-in-law passed last year at 103. He had one of everything: stock certificates from companies that now have different names or had split/gone bankrupt, small annuities, multiple brokerage accounts with various load mutual funds etc. It's not that he was wealthy, just very very diversified. When he passed, fidelity was able to aggregate everything and split it into 3 equal accounts for his surviving sons. It would have been a monumental task to get that done on our own. They even did the many many medallion signatures. I've been a lifelong Fidelity customer and eliminated my Vanguard accounts 2 years ago so I was very familiar with their services and had a contact who worked with my husband's family to get it done. Can't say enough good about them, hope they do not degrade, many years ago I loved Vanguard. Doesn't sound like their new management is moving them back to a more client/partner focused model.
No, honestly, I'd prefer to have a little more money than time and enjoy the spending but after years of thrift and fear, it's a challenging transition. If someone left you a few million dollars, would you know how to spend it?
My father-in-law was with Verizon for many years and belonged to the union. After being retired for many years they switched his retiree healthcare to a MA through United Healthcare. Honestly, it was the best. He was a union member, and they took good care of their people. Individuals are not able to get plans like his. My retiree healthcare, which I am so grateful for, just provides a small supplement to spend as I wish as long as I get insurance through their marketplace. So far, so good.
Comments
We have umbrellas but I struggle with the "deep pocket" conundrum e.g. the richer the take, the more the incentive to sue baby sue. In the end we decided on the amount to cover about either half our non IRA accounts OR about half the house. Who knows what's right with insurance. We had to argue with the insurance company to raise the amount on our home owners, real estate in our area is rising faster than I could have imagined. THough it's nice that it's done, does not feel like it's increasing happiness
Post: Financial Happiness
Link to comment from January 24, 2026
Fidelity had some sort of digital safe where you can store important documents and provide names of people who can access when you are gone. Assume if the docs are MS docs, you could also password them. I keep meaning to check it out but have not done as of now.
Post: Financial Happiness
Link to comment from January 24, 2026
The house is still a 1959 3 bedroom split ~2000 sqft. Just all redone and with a second garage and expanded rooms above. Have you looked at real-estate in your old neighborhood? Might shock you.
Post: Property taxes, our schools, our towns and seniors. Shared responsibility.
Link to comment from November 30, 2025
Yep, they reaccessed the house to market value, ahead of the 10 year reaccessment. They then have a factor that brings the house inline with the town accessment from 2020. After all this math magic, our bill went up 8k. Now our new accessment can't increase more than 2%. Honestly, fixing up our house, including replacing a 45 yr old GE a/c unit, they don't make them like they used to, made financial sense even given the taxes. No ranches here, almost at any price, and I did not want to commit to lots of far driving. Can actually walk to basics here for as long as I can do that. Its all pretty nuts
Post: Property taxes, our schools, our towns and seniors. Shared responsibility.
Link to comment from November 30, 2025
We live in essex county, nj, w high taxes and great schools. Have no kids and are both seniors. Just redid our =2000 sqft 3 bedroom house and got accessed 8k/yr more bringing us to 20k/yr. Sometimes feels like the schools and towns behave like drunken sailors but also believe the children of this town are getting a great start in life and that's paying it forward. Most of the smaller houses, like ours, get knocked down when seniors move to build MacMansions with even more taxes (45k). Hopefully they plan well for the future but suspect some come just for the time their kids are in school and then they flee. It all feels unsustainable, but maybe thats because we are on a fixed income. We are lucky in that our state has many income based programs to help with state taxes. Think treasuries vs. Interest/dividends. Having my tax dollars go to private schools would set my hair in fire. Sorry so long, a subject I have some passion for
Post: Property taxes, our schools, our towns and seniors. Shared responsibility.
Link to comment from November 29, 2025
Excellent point but I believe the new tax law may now limits this. Think it may be based on income but is now about 6500 max. Hope I misunderstood the change. I converted 2/3 of my ira when I retired but before taking SS. Invested Roth more aggressively. Put ira into basic cds hoping to control rmds and yet it keeps growing. Know I am lucky to have this "problem" and there's a good chance I will need a lot of help as I get older but still happy I made the conversion when I did, and while nj taxes were deductible from federal taxes. The game keeps changing.
Post: Contrarian Thinking About Roth Conversions
Link to comment from October 18, 2025
Love your article but what hit me most is how wise and lucky you are to realize and appreciate the loved ones you have now. I know people who are racked with regret over not having done....you will clearly not be one of those. Thank you for the thought provoking article as someone living with a 74 year old.
Post: I Cry More Easily Now. I Didn’t Use To
Link to comment from August 2, 2025
If not for you, be kind to your heirs and consolidate. My father-in-law passed last year at 103. He had one of everything: stock certificates from companies that now have different names or had split/gone bankrupt, small annuities, multiple brokerage accounts with various load mutual funds etc. It's not that he was wealthy, just very very diversified. When he passed, fidelity was able to aggregate everything and split it into 3 equal accounts for his surviving sons. It would have been a monumental task to get that done on our own. They even did the many many medallion signatures. I've been a lifelong Fidelity customer and eliminated my Vanguard accounts 2 years ago so I was very familiar with their services and had a contact who worked with my husband's family to get it done. Can't say enough good about them, hope they do not degrade, many years ago I loved Vanguard. Doesn't sound like their new management is moving them back to a more client/partner focused model.
Post: All in One Place
Link to comment from July 3, 2024
No, honestly, I'd prefer to have a little more money than time and enjoy the spending but after years of thrift and fear, it's a challenging transition. If someone left you a few million dollars, would you know how to spend it?
Post: Killing Time
Link to comment from March 27, 2024
My father-in-law was with Verizon for many years and belonged to the union. After being retired for many years they switched his retiree healthcare to a MA through United Healthcare. Honestly, it was the best. He was a union member, and they took good care of their people. Individuals are not able to get plans like his. My retiree healthcare, which I am so grateful for, just provides a small supplement to spend as I wish as long as I get insurance through their marketplace. So far, so good.
Post: What Advantage?
Link to comment from March 27, 2024